In case of the software being OEM (i.e the software comes pre-installed on a new computer/notebook) the COA must be affixed on to the body of the computer without which the license is void.
The COA Sticker which is usually Blue in colour also comes in rose pink when sold in Asia. Notice the series of x’s. On a COA this would usually consist of your 25 character product key which is required to install Windows. The OEM manufacturer name might be mentioned and also the version of Windows that it is for. Notice the rough hole with the silver strips (thread) running through the sticker. Microsoft calls these “port holes”
Quoted from the Microsoft web site:
The latest pre-installed Windows COA’s contain a Port-Hole™, completely filled in with paper fibers, near the middle of the COA, shaped like a Windows flag with two interwoven threads that run vertically through its center. The words “Your Potential” are hidden beneath a heat-activated layer on the right thread. The left thread has red microprint of the words “Our Passion.” (There may be variation to the shape due to manufacturing techniques.)
If you observe carefully, you can see lines cut into the corners of the COA, this means that if anyone tries to peel off the COA it tears along the lines and does not come off cleanly. I’ve also heard that if heat is applied to loosen the adhesive, the printing on the COA gets blotched. I suppose reading from the above paragraph from Microsoft’s web site, maybe the words “Your Potential” would appear on the right silver strip running through the COA as it says it is hidden behind a heat-activated layer.
Personally the COA has been a pain for me when I was selling my own branded computers. The COA would tear even when peeling off the boooklet prior to application. What was worse, thanks to the “port holes” the COA gets damaged very easily due to abrasion with the lap of a laptop user. So whenever re-installation was required, the COA could not be read! Whats more, the Nehru Place service technicians (and others) would be armed conveniently with a copy of an OEM CD and use the COA’s from laptops that came for repair to install “authentic” Windows for others, which would therefore not activate for us when we needed it. I even had an instance of a very conscientious desktop user who used to scrub her computer so clean, that only a dirty white rectangle was left of the COA sticker. I wish they went back to their system of shipping a CD image of the OS and drivers along with the laptop. The good old times are always good. I use good quality (Non Yellowing) transparent sticky tape over the COA and save myself much trouble later on when a machine comes back in for re-installation.
Regarding licensing, in case of OEM software. The software belongs to the computer and not to the user, so if your laptop gets condemned or catches fire and you can no longer use it, you cannot use the software again on another computer! i.e it has to live and die on the same computer onto which the COA was affixed! -and remember, it is valid for installation only on a single computer. However you might not have got the CD/DVD so for re-installation, any OEM CD/DVD should work (It doesn’t for XP, I think its grouped by service pack) A quick alternative is to get a copied CD from the bums in Nehru Place who keep chanting “software” on the side walks. Buy a Vista DVD for 100 or 15o bucks. If you get a product key, tear it and throw it away. Install XP/Vista and when it asks for the product key, look for the COA on the body or under your laptop and type in the key! You will need to activate Windows over the Internet or over the phone after this!
Note: If your COA has been damaged due to the above mentioned problems, you can follow one of these steps…
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